Despite its recent defeat on the issue in the Federal Court of Canada, the Conservative government has rebuffed the UN Human Rights Council and reasserted its "case-by-case" approach to seeking clemency for Canadians facing execution in foreign countries.

The decision was denounced Monday by Liberal MP Dan McTeague, the party's consular affairs critic, as the latest reflection of the government's "bloodthirsty, revenge-seeking" ideology on crime and punishment.

In March, the UN council issued its period review of Canada's human rights record and recommended -- at the urging of delegates from Denmark and the Netherlands -- that this country "consider reinstating the policy of seeking clemency for all Canadian citizens sentenced to death in other countries."